1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to image processing apparatus such as copiers, facsimile machines, scanners, and printers, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus whereby information embedded in image data is detected, and a subsequent image processing is determined by the result of detection of such embedded information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Significant improvements have been made in image processing technologies and image forming technologies in the past several years, and it is now possible to make highly sophisticated copies of bills or other special documents such as securities, using a digital color copy machine. As a result, it has become often difficult to distinguish an original, authentic document from its copy. Therefore, originals such as the aforementioned specialized documents or classified documents handled at corporations are often rendered incapable of being copied at all, or some other countermeasures are taken to ensure that, if a copy were to be made, such copy would not be able to accurately reproduce the original.
From these perspectives, various technologies have been developed to control the output of image processing apparatus such as a digital color copy machine capable of producing copies or duplicates of a specialized or classified document and the like. Several examples are discussed below.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-038371, in order to ensure the security of paper documents and electronic documents, a security policy of an organization is applied. In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-166241, in accordance with a security policy prescribing rules concerning the handling of documents, operations performed on a document are controlled, or the security policy is modified.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-287902 proposes embedding multibit information in an image or, inversely, detecting such embedded information. In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-303223, a one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcode is embedded in a printed document so as to indicate its special nature.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-254382, when it is detected that a given paper document or electronic document is one whose output is limited, a particular behavior is implemented. In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-230858, information for limiting the possible number of times of printing is embedded in printed matter, or a time limit for obtaining a printed output of printed matter is provided.
However, the first two examples, i.e., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-038371 and 2004-166241 do not describe how information embedded in a paper document can be detected. If the suggested technologies were to be adapted for detecting embedded information, a number of modifications would have to be made in the image processing apparatus.
In the next two examples, i.e., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 2006-287902 and 2004-303223, techniques for embedding information, i.e., types of embedded information are specified, so that the configuration of the image processing apparatus would have to be modified in not too few respects if a new type of information were to be embedded.
In the last two examples, i.e., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 2006-254832 and 2004-230858, behaviors following the detection of embedded information are specified, so that the configuration of the image processing apparatus would also have to be modified in not too few respects if the apparatus were to be adapted for a new behavior.
Thus, in those known image processing apparatus, either the source of input of a document, the type of embedded information, or the behavior following the detection of embedded information is specified. Accordingly, the configuration of the image processing apparatus would have to be modified in many respects if either a new source of document input were to be allowed, a new type of embedded information were to be introduced, or a new behavior associated with a detection result of embedded information were to be added. Thus, in these known image processing apparatus, processing operations are limited within certain specified ranges.